When Flash first landed on the World Wide Web (we still called it that back in those days) it was very popular and it became common for websites that wanted to look “cool” to load a Flash animation when a visitor arrived at the site. The standard method was to force the user to sit through this animation to convince them of how cool you were.

As time passed it became widely accepted that this practice was, to use the technical term, totally fucked. Despite years of frustrated users screaming at the websites to get that stupid fucking intro out of their way and let them use the site, some sites argue that there are certain cases where a Flash into is still a good idea.

Maybe so. I’m a helpful guy. Really. So I’ve provided this handy flow chart for all web designers and marketing people to consult before they put a Flash intro in place. Use this and no matter what your product, no matter who your target audience, you will always reach the right decision:

Thanks to everyone for the overwhelmingly positive response to this post. I fixed the appalling typos that were in the first paragraph after they were pointed out to me. Interestingly (to me at least) this post has also been translated into Italian: http://www.wafer.it/main/index.php?id_pag=52&id_blog_post=48

If you have a 100% flash site which is big enough to need a preloader (eg a video production site) a light intro is a nice way to pass the time while you wait for the site to load. Better than looking at a percentage bar for 15 seconds.. A rare but valid scenario.

I’m a flash dev and personally I’ve never used one or been asked to use one by a client. They don’t do your SEO any favours either…

This is about how I feel. I’m actually designing a site now for a client who INSISTS on having a flash intro. I’ve wasted so much time and effort trying to talk them out of it, but they’re really insistent. I should send them this..

I am sure you have a good point but for the stupid websites which use the flash intro without making any meaning or attraction for the visitor. On the other hand, I thinks it is useful only for showing some attractive features of a specific product on other meaning ” for Marketing”. :)

but really I like your blog specially the lovely chart of hating the flashes.

Dude that is so right on! I agree the same thing applies to any sort of splash page. Another good one would be “Should I paginate my articles?” Yeah, if you want to piss off your entire audience instantly.

although you are completely wrong about one thing… “no matter what your target audience”

Your fallacy (and those who previously posted) is in forgetting how many people still have nfi how to use the Internet, you are obviously so engrossed within the web environment and your peers of web savvy gurus that you is too far disconnected with those who are clueless and ask wtf is the web again???

For example I had a haircut the other day and the hair dresser an elderly lady mentioned she is so clueless she’s scared to even turn her computer on… incase she short circuts the entire block or gets a virus… I wasn’t about to discuss the Internet if we were still at level ‘power on’

It just so happens that pixelvision’s target market is not so far from this elderly lady in terms of web knowledge, so when they finally manage to view our website or I show them, I experience regularly a “WOW thats (fucking) awesome” effect from our icecream into. (www.pixelvision.co.nz)

Although with the decline of flash favourability we will obviously look into something different perhaps two years from now… and theres still the indexing issue :S

It depends on the length of the intro I think. Anything over 5 seconds is to much. People have short attention spans, especially when it comes to the web. So, in my opinion; if you so desire a flash intro make it short. It’s probably best to just not have one though.

The simple answer is no. Flash intros just suck for the most part. some sites do it very well, but they have a designed purpose behind them other than just looking “really awesome”.

While I am here protesting flash intros, cane someone also speak out on those flash shopping sites? They crash your browser, run up your CPU cycles, are slow, an jerky. And for many of them you can’t save the page because the thing you are looking at is stuck inside some flash animation and isn’t a actual page (to their credit, some sites do have an ability to link to specific stuff you are viewing).

Thank you, i have so many clients that think Flash is necessary to create a good site have to educate them about the content and structure that make a web site “good.” its only good if it delivers the message to the user!

Here’s why you need a flash intro, you see, your website needs to tell a story, you see, you need to make an emotional connection with the visitor, you see, then tell the visitor a story they can identify with, you see, flash intros are good for this, you see, connect with your customer, you see, then sell them shit, you see, high conversion rates are attributable to really cool flash intros, you see, no need to waste money optimizing landing pages and getting a good ROI, you see…ROI= return on intro, you see, you see?

lol, I love the graph and it seems very accurate and scientific to me :) I definitely hate flash intros, not only do some of them slow my browser down causing me to either close the tab or skip intro.
Flash intro is definitely a bad idea.

This is so good. I’ve tweeted this (@dianebourque) so that I can present the chart to any client who might be thinking of having a flash intro for his/her website. With so little words, it says it all.

I love your flow chart! That made my day. I generally tend to stay away from websites that use flash…. unless they are absolutely useful to me or contain some content that I can’t find anywhere else. Flash has some great purposes….. but not for websites. I would never use flash for any main part of any of my sites because they take too long to load…some of them even take forever to load on a fast connection and that really sucks. Flash does not make a website cool. I do agree however that flash can help you make some nice presentations but don’t use it to build your whole site or force me to sit through it just to get in to see what your site offers.

Dude, I’ve not seen your site before, but the link was on the WordPress home page, and I had to see. Flash is great technology, and has its place, but NOT as an Intro page. Just freaking pisses me off. Almost as much as the “new” technology that shows an ad “while the page loads”. Gak.

OMG I totally agree. That stuff pisses me off so much you don’t even know. And when I see that I begin to feel sorry for people with slow internet or computers.

I hate flash intro’s and a lot of the flash sites in general they take way to long to load, and the stuff they do (unless its animation) can be done faster and better I think with out it. Just show the content.

Maybe google or hotmail should put a flash intro, then we’ll see how people like it.

I still think it works for some out there – the retarded, those with very poor eyesight come to mind immediately (for the latter Flash allows for audio so a female voice will state ‘company logo miving across screen’). They are still a part of the WWW and it would be rude to ignore them – I favour inclusion for all. So I WILL have a logo move across the screen with a big ‘click here to enter the site’ appearing in a pulse-like motion. All others can just bugger off – this is for an elite few only.

Mr Angry,
I totally need you to come round and carve this into the foreheads of a few people where I work. They won’t listen to me even though I’m the only person in the room who’s ever produced a website that gets more than 20 visitors a day, but of course they’ll listen to a consultant who says exactly the same thing.

Well You can still pick up traffic on your site even if you have a flash intro on. I did SEO on a web site with flash intro and you can Google it search for = electronic catalogues and you will find Ecat website.

i do agree with the “skip intro” button. 4 sure!!! Yet . Flash Intro’s is amazing if they are done right.
The creative minds of artists sharing that in flash. is amazing!…. Just look for the better ones.!!!

I’d have to admit often times I skip the flash intro to get to the detail. But you can’t leave out flash, lots of people looking to choose one product over another make their choice based on how tech savvy the one is over the other.

I’ve had problems with clients insisting also. Many years ago when flash intros were really hot. I compared it to a real life situation trying to make them understand how stupid it was.

You have a shop on the main street with lots of similar shops and competition close by. Each time a customer is about to open the door and enter your shop a clown is jumping out in front of them, blocking the way and performs some cool tricks, juggling or whatever.

Maybe not all of the first time visitors will find it annoying but for the second and third time customers the irritation will be 100%, if you will get any second and third time customers that is.

i think it would be useful as a first brand impression. if it was programmed to not show up on repeat visits it would be an effective tool to help new customers feel good about your product or service.

It’s ok to say “fuck” in a post? Shit! that’s SO cool! I agree about flash intros, but you do have a lot of “brain dead” folks out there buying it. I’m a wedding photographer and almost to a man, (or girl) they all have the same lame ass flash site! There’s a company out there that sells them all day long for 300 bucks, they are pure trash! Sad part is, bridal clients are suckered in by the sappy music and effects. :(

@hadley – A first time web user is only that once. The second time web user is only 2 minutes older than the first time web user and they already get frustrated at stupid flash intros. Do those people still say WOW when they skip the flash intro? That’s what you should be trying to achieve.

Thanks very much for passing this on. I was about to put together a marketing process model and outline the pros/cons of utilizing flash for a site home page, but the flow chart was so simplistic, yet so powerfully accurate, it saved me countless hours of research and analysis. I’m proud a fellow Aussie came up with it.

The flow chart was really funny. Always skipped the intro of flash sites, but must admit that flash sites without intros are pretty cool stuff. Especially the ones that put a lot of effort into interactivity and not so much the “Oh look at me I’m so cool” factor.

I’ve given this a lot of thought after reading your post the other day and have decided I’m going to hire a REALLY cool cabana boy, clone him like a quadrodillion times, and teach them all how to apparate every time my site gets hit. They’ll just appear and do crazy groovy hand movments in front of whoever’s looking at my site’s screen!!!

Hey thanks for your opinion… in some sites flash gives a good impression of the brand but otherwise it is a complete waste of time, energy and money for some!!!
I would suggest… think before you get a flash intro!!!!

I would say, it depends on each person needs, since with using this fancy flah intro, we can produce stunning appearance to visitor.
When we want to amaze visitors on their fist visit, we need something to catch their attention, for example by using this flash intro :D

Could it be that just like we get everyday artists there is online artists aswell? yes – designing and developing a flash intro or a flash website is an art!.
and then i do agree that corny flash intro’s is a big no no specially when there is now skip intro button.

So. should your web site have a flash intro?

: yes. just make sure you develop and design it right, to have it drawing attention and not piss people off.

Flash rocks – IF you use it right.

and for those developers that made you guys angry and dislike Flash . very sorry on their behave not all of us screw up flash intro’s.

Yes, the narcissism of these “developers” is palpable, BUT… most have included a “close” or “skip” button to bypass sucking the greasy cock of Satan. Now, if you prefer to suck Satan’s greasy throbbing cock, that’s cool…just know you have a choice.

i never use flash in my blog intro. because it can slow my blog loading. not all of them like this intro may me it waste their tim. all they need is load the website or blog less than 3 sec i think :) ..
by the way thanks for sharing my friend keep blogging :)

okay, what I feel is that we shouldnt have flash I think that each website should accept the browser even if it dosnet have flash because that isnt far I cant ven get on any site without having “flash”

The reason why you all hate flash so much is because you dont know how to use it. Flash developers can do anything in 1/2 the time it takes
people who hand code everything and or use tables,
css, div tags, ect.

There is no right or wrong way to design a site, just because you all are stuck using old technology doesnt mean flash is bad. Your just afraid to learn something new.

I THINK ITS FUCKING TOO MUCH, ITS SUPPOSED TO BE AN INTRO NOT A FUCKING WHOLE MOVIE, THIS IS THE TYPE OF INTRO THIS FORUM IT’S ALL ABOUT THAT’S WHY THIS GUY SAYS U DONT NEED A FLASH INTRO BECAUSE OF FUCKING LONG SHITS LIKE THIS, DONT GET ME WRONG BEING A CHRISTIAN SITE HAS NOT A FUCKING THING TO DO WITH IT

Regarding the Flash design intro, if it’s not part of (incorporated in) the main website then you are looking for trouble. A hit or miss situation within the 3 second rule. I don’t believe in intro. We don’t use it. Just get to the point. Show the user what they came for.

It depends on what kind of website you have.
For a simple, fashion, non function oriented website , flash is a good idea.
Just take a look at like Coca-cola, BMW, Nokia etc. Flash has always been the favorite of those big brands.

Its not that easy to SEO a flash design, although it is getting easier. If you want your business to grow fast then I would give the Flash intro a miss. If your business is about design then use flash in your portfolio.

Mate
i’ve just joined the conversation but – this is so true! i still battle with clients asking for me to make the font on their site 18 point, pink and flash on and off!!! and we’re talking some very hefty clients.

Flash is fine if used in moderation e.g. a 1 pixel x 1 pixel square on the sitemap page!!

| Angry 365 Days a Year” was indeed fantastic! I reallycan’t see eye to eye along with u more! At last seems like I actuallystumbled upon a web site really worth looking through. Thanks for your time, Roma

Can I just say what a relief to find somebody that truly understands what they are talking about on the internet. You actually realize how to bring an issue to light and make it important. A lot more people should look at this and understand this side of the story. I was surprised you’re not more popular since you definitely possess the gift.

An outstanding share! I’ve just forwarded this onto a co-worker who has been doing a little research on this.
And he in fact ordered me breakfast due to the fact
that I found it for him… lol. So let me reword this…. Thanks for the meal!!

But yeah, thanks for spending some time to talk about this matter
here on your internet site.

Not a great fan of flash. I prefer a crisp simple site, but I can see that certain sites need to have an element of flash. I suppose it all come down to the nature of the website and the target of the audience.